Kyrie Irving is back. James Harden is three games in his term at the Brooklyn Nets. Kevin Durant looks just like the top 3 player who has defined his career.
And what exactly do we know about this new, strong, fascinating Brooklyn Nets team?
Not a damn thing.
The Nets’ exciting loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers with double overtime on Wednesday night – their first game with the KD-Beard-Kyrie trio playing together – tells us absolutely nothing. Same for the two previous games that featured the winning games of Harden and Durant, including a giant game against the Milwaukee Bucks, as Irving was left out for personal reasons.
If you, reasonably, believe that the Nets’ Big Three are too overwhelmingly talented to doubt, there is enough at hand to strengthen your position. Harden and KD started with 2-0, Kyrie’s return and the wrinkles that still need to be ironed out still needed double overtime in the ground, and those three were (mostly) phenomenal together.
Durant was 12-out-25 for 38 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Irving dropped 37. Harden scored another triple-double and scored a 21-10-12 night.
That’s 96 points between them. Scary stuff.
But if you, like me, have more doubts than confidence in how these brew stars will eventually merge, you can squint your eyes and still see what worries you. Harden is missing some great shots on point. That trio, especially Kyrie, sometimes played one-on-one basketball as if he were out there without two other world beaters – an effective thought that it could have been, a sign of possible rifts. And, of course, a loss for a Cleveland Cavaliers team with a fraction of the Nets’ talent.
Brooklyn is the most fascinating team in the NBA, and what it will eventually become – and how it will ultimately be judged – in the playoffs remains a Rorschach test. Three games in Harden’s Brooklyn period (2-1), one game in Irving’s return (0-1), and the Nets are still many, no matter what you thought a week ago when the trade declined.
Their combined talent is beyond doubt. Sometimes watching KD and Harden, KD and Irving, KD and Irving and Harden – all possible combinations – was enchanting basketball with a breathtakingly talented collection of stars. And yet, the Nets’ defense, toughness, and ability to win games the hard way remain open questions, especially highlighted Wednesday night in the 147-135 loss by former Jarrett Allen, who was recently put through the jets. Allen’s 12-11 double-double does not tell the whole story. He hit big shots, pulled down important rebounds and for the big pieces of the fourth quarter, overtime was the most important player on the floor this side of Colin Sexton.
He also stressed who in the forecourt could be an effective part of what the Nets need outside of their tries.
It’s a long and difficult process to fold several superstars into a single team. This is reinforced when it happens in the middle of a season – especially with one of the stars leaving his former team through an ugly divorce, and another one after a long stretch for nebulous personal reasons that seem to be an open disagreement towards his coach.
Take the Miami Heat 2010-11. When LeBron James and Chris Bosh arrived at Dwyane Wade that year, that Big Three – perhaps the best talent comparison for this Big Three – started 9-8. I covered that team, and it was nothing but anxiety, turmoil and frustration for much of that season. And yet the trio ended quite successfully in the years to come.
Starting can be misleading. In both directions. Take Harden’s history with the stars he insisted on playing with.
In 2017, he wanted Chris Paul with him in Houston, and as is almost always the case with the Rockets, he got what he wanted. Their start was great. They won their first 14 matches together. They were going and there was fear for them. But the story did not end in glory, and it did not end harmoniously.
So Harden got what he wanted again: CP3 out, old friend and fellow former MVP Russell Westbrook. Again a great start: this time an 11-3 start and a feeling that all the doubters have exhausted the two high use. course stars could coexist successfully, needing to re-adjust their thinking. But also the story ends badly and bitterly.
So here we are. Harden has what he wants again. He, KD and Irving are the most talented NBA trio since Miami’s Big Three, at least on paper, and as with many things in the NBA, the excitement of a few games is now equal to any form of guarantee.
Losing to Cleveland is not proof that we doubt this version of the Brooklyn Nets we are talking about. But once they shed a hard tear of victory – and they will – the fact similarly will not give the award of what is to follow.
The Nets are talented. The Nets are full of stars who struggle to get by, or stay happy, or win – often all three – with other stars. The Nets are the most interesting team in basketball, but offer the biggest question mark. And the Nets, who are already playing out in the coming weeks and months, are only beginning to reveal themselves.